Improvement in thill-couplings



I. S. PETERS Improvement in Thill. Coupling.

N0.124,285. Pat ntedMarch5J872.

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TEN'I" ISAAC S. PETERS, OF MARSHALL, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF TVVO-THIRDS OF HIS RIGHT TO WILLIAM B. PETER-S AND SILAS PETERS, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN THlLL-COUPLINGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 124,285, dated March 5, 1872.

Specification describing certain Improvements in Thill and Pole Couplings for Carriages, invented by ISAAC S. PETERS, of the city of Marshall, in the county of Calhoun and State of Michigan.

My invention is designed to apply as an improvement in clip-couplings where the articulation of the joint is maintained by the pressure ot' a spring-cap, as may be seen in the thillcoupling for which a patent dated July 11, 1871, was granted to Edward Warren, of Ceresco, Michigan, and it relates to the combination of a recess-seat and rubber block with the clip-joint head-bar, and with a cap having a tongued extension to fit into the recess immediately below the vehicle axle; the object be ing to couple closer up, dispense with the holding-down bolt for the cap, and cover the caps abutting joints; the effect being to render the couplingmore compact, cheap, and secure, as will be fully described hereinafter, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in Which Figure 1 exhibits my improved clip-couplin g in perspective, attached to a section of the-vehicle axle. Fig. 2 is a plan or top View of the joint-head bar and cap. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section through the center of the coupling and across the axle.

A is the vehicle axle. B is the cross-bar of the clip, extending forward as shown, and terminating in a circle joint-head, G, and Dis the clip, which embraces and is secured to the axle in the common way. E is the thill or pole-arm iron,bolted to the Wood E, and forged with a hook-shaped termination, as shown, to fit over and play on the joint-head; an outside crossridge, cam-shaped on the forward side, as seen at e, is forged also on said thill-iron over the center of the hook-bearing. F is the springcap, formed with a curved top-plate, and with side flanges f f, which, when the cap is in place, extend downward to the lower side of the jointhead bar, and ext-end backward to points inside of the front line ofthe axle, so that when connected the axle will overlap and shelter the abutting joints at the shoulders b 1) of the joint-head bar. The longitudinal dotted lines in Fig. 2 indicate where the joint-head bar is reduced in width at the forward part to permil; the cap flanges to overlap, the shoulders aforesaid being made by such reduction. A portion of the upper side of the bar B is bevelled away toward the shoulders I) b to prevent the cap from touching when sprung down, and a sunken recess and bottom-seat are formed back of said shoulders to receive a block, G, usually of rubber, and also to admit a tongueextension, g, of the cap, which tongue lies on and compresses moderately the elastic block when the bar and cap are screwed up by the clip-nuts snugly against the under side of the axle. It is unimportant whether the recess and tongue of the cap be made semicircular, as shown, or square; but, if square, the rubber block should conform in shape instead of being circular, as seen by dotted lines in Fig. 2, and the seat for the rubber may be made concave instead of flat, as seen in Fig. 3. The cap being thus secured under the axle, there is no need for special bolt to hold it to place, and when the hook of the thill-iron is pushed in between the forward end of the cap and joint-head C, that end of the cap is lifted up, and the tongue end is depressed against the elastic block, the axle itself forming the rocking fulcrum. \Nhen the hook is sprung over the circle-head the expansion of the rubber forces down the forward end of the cap to act with a reduced pressure against the ridge of the hook, to maintain a perfect, safe, and silent coupling-joint when the thill is raised from the ground to the draft-line, as shown in Fig. 3. Inside the cap'is a cross-ridge, t, behind which the hook-ridge e is sprung when it is desired to elevate and hold the coupled pole or thills out of the way; but, as they may be so held for a long while, which would impair the elasticity of the rubber spring, I form in the cap a grooye, 0, behind the ridge 6, of such depth that when the hook-ridge is sprung past the cap-ridge the rubber will be relieved from all extra compression, as I wish to rely mainly on the somewhat-shouldered sides of the ridges to hold up the pole or thills.

The proper mode of coupling is to let the end of the pole, or the ends of the thills, as the case may be, rest on the ground, and hang the hooks of the thill-irons .E upon the turned-up ears a formed at the ends of the malleablecast caps F. The operator then pushes in the thill-hooks one after the other, springing them in to hook over the circle-head, and when the thills are lifted they cannot be disengaged until again lowered and pulled out. In this way the thillls may be superseded by a pole, or vice versa, in a few minutes by any one having barely strength enough to lift them.

I disclaim the arrangement of the thill-hook, joint-head, and spring-cap, when said cap is secured in a manner independent of the vehicle axle, and when it projects entirely beyond it. Nor do I claim the hook and cap ridges for holding up the thills, when so held mainly by the pressure exerted on the caps by the rubber spring, as these points are all covered by the patent. to E. Warren, aforesaid; but- Having described myinvention,I desire to secure by Letters Patent-- 1. The hooked thill-iron E, recessed clip-bar tied.

ISAAC S. PETERS.

Witnesses:

MrRoN E. (3001:, ()r'ro L. Jormsox. 

